The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 984

 Chapter 984

 

[Grraaaaah!]

Desiuros, merely by facing Raon, seemed to feel extreme fear, his diamond-shaped pupils trembling violently.

Hmmm…

Wrath clicked his tongue while inspecting Desiuros’ entire body up and down.

That meat's nice and plump! With all that fat, it’s bound to have a fiery, explosive flavor!

He licked his lips, saying that since the Light Wind swordsmen had already tenderized him with their swords, all that was left was to season him and grill him immediately.

‘You have no right to call me crazy…’

Suggesting to pour seasoning into a wound stabbed with astral energy, Raon had never imagined such a thing. Wrath was the craziest being he had ever encountered.

Slaaaash!

Raon swung his demonic sword and cleanly sliced off one of Desiuros’ horns.

[Hrrgh…]

Desiuros recoiled in shock as he felt one of the hardest parts of his body, the horn, cut away like a piece of paper.

"Not long ago, the Dragon Lord came to see you, didn’t he?"

Raon looked down at him, eyes calm, as if he already knew everything.

[H-How do you know that…?]

Desiuros gulped dryly, his eyes, which were larger than his own torso, rolling in panic.

‘So he really did come.’

Just as Raon had expected, it seemed the Dragon Lord had visited the ancient dragons to share his future plans.

‘This one should be easy to extract information from.’

Desiuros didn’t know that Latir had leaked the information. Since he was likely confused in many ways, now seemed like the right time to take advantage of that disoriented mindset and pull more out of him.

“Shut up and just answer the questions.”

Raon reached for the divine sword that had been stuck in the sand.

Fwoooosh!

The heat rising from the blade brushed past Desiuros’ face. Red blood spurted from beneath the eye where the sword energy had grazed him.

[Ughhh…]

Gripped by the fear of death, Desiuros slowly opened his massive maw.

[Y-Yes… Just as you said, the Lord came not long ago.]

Believing Raon already knew everything, he revealed the truth immediately.

“He told you to prepare for war, didn’t he?”

Raon lightly moved the hand gripping the demonic sword as he gazed into Desiuros’ trembling eyes.

[Y-Ye … Wait, who are you—]

Desiuros flinched in panic, and the sand around him rippled like waves.

[Who… are you? Are you the blond, red-eyed human the Lord warned us about…?]

He trembled at the bridge of his nose, stunned by the series of events that made no sense to him. That reaction alone gave Raon the answer he needed.

‘The one the Dragon Lord warned them about… that would be grandfather, not me.’

Naturally, the blond-haired, red-eyed human warned of by the Dragon Lord was Glenn.

Maybe even now I’m still not on his radar, but back then, I definitely wouldn’t have been.

‘So they really are preparing for war.’

Judging from Desiuros’ words and everything that had happened so far, it was now certain, the dragons were siding with the Four Demons and readying themselves for war.

‘Damn lizard bastards...’

The so-called mediators of the world were standing behind the ones trying to drive the continent into ruin. It was absurd.

Didn’t the King of Essence already tell you?

Wrath shook his head in disappointment.

Those lizards are good for nothing except eating! They’re an invasive species that needs to be wiped out on sight!

He snorted, saying they weren’t messengers of the god or mediators of the continent, they were just harmful vermin.

‘Harmful vermin? That’s… oddly accurate.’

Raon let out a faint chuckle and placed his foot on Desiuros’ snout.

"What else did he say?"

After a short breath, Raon lifted his chin slightly.

[Th-that’s all. He just told me to prepare for war... and to be careful of you.]

Desiuros shook his head slightly, seemingly thinking Raon was Glenn.

“There must’ve been more.”

Raon slowly reached out and brought his blue-flaming demonic sword near Desiuros’ eye.

[It’s the truth! He said a war is coming, one that will shake the entire continent, so we need to gather and recruit more guardians! That’s really all!]

Desiuros trembled, claiming that really was everything.

“You’re starting to get on my nerves.”

Clicking his tongue, Raon drove the demonic sword deep into the inside of Desiuros’ gums.

Shrrrrrip!

The dragon’s flesh split like cheese beneath the frost-covered blade, and a spurt of dark red blood shot upward.

[GRAAAHHHH!]

Writhing in agony, Desiuros screamed as pain tore through his body, the likes of which he had never experienced in his life.

‘There's no need to treat this trash lizard humanely.’

Desiuros had abandoned his duty as a mediator. He had enslaved humans and dwarves to create a factory for crafting jewels.

‘And in a terrible underground tunnel at that.’

Since Raon had personally rescued the hostages, he’d been able to see the inside of the nest himself, and it was nothing short of a fiery pit.

Even Raon, with his high resistance to fire, had felt the heat in there. For ordinary people, and even fire-resistant dwarves, it would’ve been pure hell.

To a lizard who had kidnapped and tormented humans and dwarves for nothing but his own greed, even torture was too generous.

“You’d better start talking fast. I don’t have much patience.”

Raon smiled coldly as he warned that things would only get more painful from here.

[Hrrghhh!]

Desiuros rolled his terrified eyes back and forth, clearly scrambling to recall something—anything.

[C-Come to think of it…]

He opened his blood-soaked mouth slightly.

“Come to think of it?”

Raon motioned for him to go on.

[When I asked the Lord when the war would begin… he said the humans beneath the volcano weren’t ready yet.]

“Beneath the volcano?”

[Yes. He also said he’d tell me the location later and that I should go see it for myself…]

Desiuros shook his head again, insisting that was truly all he knew.

‘A volcano, huh?’

Finally, a lead.

The continent had plenty of volcanoes, but if they mobilized the Five Kings' forces, they could narrow down the artificial ones in a short time.

“And who is it that's beneath the volcano?”

Raon tilted the divine sword slightly as he looked down at Desiuros.

[I-I don’t know! He just told me to go there later! That’s all!]

He shook his head, saying that the Dragon Lord left only those words before vanishing.

‘A shame about this part.’

Even though they’re all part of the same Four Demons, Derus, the White Blood Religion, and Eden each operate in completely different ways.

If Raon knew who it was, he could prepare accordingly before launching an attack, but without that intel, it was frustrating.

‘Still, one thing’s certain now.’

Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the golden, glimmering sky.

‘The Dragon Lord knows where all the Four Demons are.’

Just as discussed in the Conference of the Five Kings, the Dragon Lord clearly knew not just the Black Tower’s location, but also the whereabouts of the remaining Four Demons.

“Alright then. What’s next?”

[T-There’s nothing else!]

Desiuros’ wide eyes shook as he insisted he had already said everything he knew.

“I doubt that.”

Raon clicked his tongue again.

[It’s true! I swear I said everything I know! Word for word from my conversation with the Lord!]

“Well then…”

Raon clicked his tongue and raised the demonic sword again.

“If I ask your body, I’ll find out.”

Smiling coldly, he thrust both the divine and demonic swords into the gap between Desiuros’ scales.

Fwoooosh!

Just like torturing a human, he forced scorching heat and icy cold through the blades into the dragon’s flesh.

[Kuaaagh!]

Desiuros began thrashing, his eyes rolling back as he writhed in pain greater than anything he’d ever experienced.

Hey!

Wrath shook his head furiously, as if to say Raon had gone too far.

‘Don’t try to stop me. This thrash enslaved innocent people.’

That’s not it! If you torture him too much, he’ll get stressed, then the meat’ll get all tough!

He even held up a finger, saying the dragon needed proper rest time, so the meat wouldn’t get tough.

‘…’

Raon stared blankly at Wrath.

‘What am I supposed to do with this glutton…?’

*   *   *

“Hmmm…”

Raon furrowed his brow as he looked at Desiuros, whose face and neck were now a tattered mess.

‘He really doesn’t know anything more.’

Even after driving the frost demonic sword into his tongue and torturing him, Desiuros didn’t say anything new.

It truly seemed that he had indeed said everything he knew.

[Hrrghhh…]

“Desiuros.”

Raon approached the dragon, who let out a weak groan as if he were about to die.

[Guhk…]

Desiuros lowered his gaze in fear the moment Raon looked at him.

“One last question.”

Raon raised a finger toward him.

“Where is the Dragon Lord’s nest?”

Given how things had turned out, dealing with the Dragon Lord before finding the Four Demons might not be a bad idea.

Capturing him would surely lead to the location of the Four Demons.

[I-I don’t know.]

Desiuros coughed up blackened blood and shook his head.

“You don’t know? The location of his nest?”

[Y-Yes. The Lord only ever came to us directly. He never summoned us to his nest, not even once.]

He trembled as he looked into Raon’s eyes, blood dribbling from his snout.

[Besides, dragons… don’t care much for their own kind…]

Desiuros shook his head, saying he didn’t even know the locations of other dragons’ nests, let alone the Dragon Lord’s.

‘He’s probably telling the truth.’

Raon studied Desiuros’ expression. It didn’t look like he was lying.

That’s probably true. Dragons don’t give a damn if a full-grown or even ancient one dies, unless it’s a hatchling.

Wrath scoffed, saying dragons were the most disorganized race in the world.

“All right. Then this is the end.”

Raon nodded calmly and lifted the demonic sword, now shimmering with blue frost.

[W-What? What do you mean, the end?!]

Desiuros raised his head in panic.

[You said you’d spare me if I answered your questions!]

“When did I say that?”

Raon gave a dry smile and shook his head.

“The only way for you to live was if you took down those guys over there.”

He gestured at the Light Wind swordsmen with a mocking sneer.

“I never once said I’d spare you for answering my questions.”

Raon waved his hand, saying it was merely a delusion in Desiuros’ head.

[Eegh…]

Realizing he had been under a grave misunderstanding, Desiuros trembled at the jaw.

[N-No, wait!]

“It’s over.”

As Desiuros tried to gather mana to struggle one last time, Raon swung the demonic sword straight at his neck.

Slice!

A slicing sound, like paper being cut, rang out, and a blue line appeared across Desiuros’ throat.

Shatter!

The neck of the frozen Sky Dragon shattered into glimmering frost as his massive body dropped into the cold sands below.

[Agh…]

The dragon who had lived for thousands of years, who had cast aside the oath of a mediator, turned into a mere lizard and fell into the cold desert.

Thud!

After confirming that Desiuros had stopped breathing, Raon flicked the blood from both the divine sword and the demonic sword.

Nothing escapes the King of Essence’s eyes.

Wrath narrowed his eyes as he looked at Raon.

Even if that lizard had beaten those kids, you wouldn’t have let him live, would you?

‘That’s right.’

Raon nodded without hesitation.

‘There’s no need to keep promises made with trash.’

Just as Wrath said, even if Desiuros had won against the Light Wind swordsmen, Raon would’ve immediately used the Dancing Sword to take him down.

A lizard like that had no right to live.

‘Still, this went better than expected…’

Raon smacked his lips as he looked at Desiuros’ body, his life now fading from his eyes.

‘The results are excellent.’

By killing Desiuros, an ancient dragon, they’d weakened the enemy’s forces, uncovered that one of the Four Demons was hiding beneath a volcano, and rescued a large number of hostages.

All gains, with no losses.

‘Oh, and one more thing.’

Raon smiled as he looked over at the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace.

‘They gained confidence and experience.’

The Light Wind swordsmen, having taken down an ancient dragon, came to truly realize the power they held. That experience would serve them greatly in the battles ahead.

There’s more!

Wrath raised a finger, refusing to let it end there.

We get to eat dragon roast! And not just any dragon, this one’s a red dragon with the best flame-grilled flavor!

He beamed as if that was the biggest gain of all.

“Haa…”

How did it come to this…

Raon suddenly felt just a little bit guilty, as if he himself had ruined Wrath.

“Whew… is it finally over?”

Burren finally let go of the tension he had been holding all along, exhaling a long sigh.

“I thought I was gonna die for real this time. When that breath came down, I almost pissed myself!”

Martha wiped the cold sweat from her forehead as she recalled the moment Desiuros’ breath descended.

“It was just… so hot. I hated that the most.”

Runaan shook her head, looking like she hated the heat of this region more than the actual battle with Desiuros.

“Honestly, I wanted to run. But everyone else was holding out…”

Krein slumped his shoulders, saying he endured only because of his comrades.

“Heeheeheehee…”

Dorian, who had been crying earlier, now gave off an eerie laugh as he inspected Desiuros’ corpse.

He already looked happy, probably imagining stuffing the whole thing into his belly pocket.

“He's a real weirdo….”

Trevin shook his head, saying Dorian wasn’t right in the head.

“That’s exactly why he can survive in the Light Wind division.”

Mark Goetten smiled calmly, saying it was something they’d all have to get used to.

“E-Excuse me…”

As Raon returned the Blade of Requiem and Heavenly Drive to their scabbards, a dry voice called from behind.

“We’re… we’re so sorry for asking why you saved us...”

“We failed to recognize our savior and acted rudely…”

“Please forgive us.”

The people who had been held captive by Desiuros bowed their heads in apology, referring to the words they had spoken when they first saw the dragon’s breath.

“It’s alright. I completely understand.”

Raon gave a gentle smile and waved his hand.

‘To them, Desiuros must have been both a devil and a god.’

These people had been abducted and forced to live for a long time inside a blazing nest.

They weren’t living because they wanted to, they were just unable to die. It was only natural that the sight of Desiuros breath had filled them with fear.

“Thank you for saving us.”

Latir, full of genuine gratitude, dropped to his knees on the sand.

“I owe you my life. I’ll repay this debt, no matter what it takes.”

He bowed his head, saying he owed more than just his life.

“We feel the same! We’ll absolutely repay this debt!”

The dwarves behind Latir also bowed and loudly expressed their thanks for being saved.

“This is why rescue missions are great.”

“We don’t do it for the thanks, but seeing faces like that… it feels good.”

“Makes you want to work even harder next time, too.”

The Light Wind swordsmen waved their hands towards the people and dwarves who were expressing their gratitude.

Fwoosh!

As the dwarves finished expressing their thanks and got to their feet, a sudden gleam flashed in their eyes.

“Savior! I know it sounds crazy, but… may we take a look at your sword?”

“Where did you learn your swordsmanship? That wasn’t ordinary sword energy!”

“What are you going to do with the dragon’s corpse? We can forge weapons, armor, anything you need!”

The moment their thanks were done, the dwarves couldn’t hold themselves back anymore. With crazed eyes and zombie-like movements, they shuffled toward Raon, desperate to see his sword and swordsmanship up close.

“Th-that can wait until later…”

Raon shook his head as he looked over the scorched black desert.

“We should get out of here before it gets any darker.”

He turned to survey the area, suggesting they first withdraw from this hellish land.

“Oh, before that, please tell us where you used to live. We’ll help send you back there.”

Raon looked at the humans and dwarves, asking them to name their hometowns.

“The mountain we once called home was destroyed by Desiuros...”

Latir looked at Raon and licked his lips.

“Would your faction… be willing to take us in?”

He bowed his head in a pleading gesture.

“Please!”

The other dwarves bent at the waist as well, asking Raon to accept them.

Although, some of them didn’t seem to be asking because they had nowhere to go, but simply because they wanted to see Raon’s sword and skills up close.

“I’m not the head of my house, so for now, I’ll just take your request into consideration.”

Raon smiled and turned to the humans.

“And you?”

“O-Our village was also destroyed by Desiuros…”

An old man, whose face was covered in bark-like wrinkles, shook his head.

“It was the village just in front of this desert… with just a single gesture, that monster…”

The old man trembled as he said the entire village was burned and buried in sand.

“Then let’s move together for now.”

Raon nodded, deciding to take everyone back to Zieghart.

“But first, we’ll need to take care of the dragon’s corpse and gather whatever loot was left behind.”

Of course, they couldn’t leave without collecting Desiuros’ corpse, and the hoard of treasure he’d amassed.

“That's right! We know where everything is, we’ll bring it to you!”

Latir rolled up his sleeves and gave a confident nod.

“Finally, our time to act has come!”

“Let’s deal with that damn dragon’s corpse first!”

The dwarves looked eager, saying they would help divide the dragon's corpse and move the treasures.

"Ah, you don’t need to worry about that."

Raon told them to rest and gestured behind him.

“Dorian.”

“Yes, sir! I’ve been waiting for your call!”

With a salute, Dorian stepped forward and opened his belly pocket in front of Desiuros’ massive corpse.

“Huh…?”

“W-What are you doing?”

“Even if that’s a subspace pocket, there’s no way it can fit an entire dragon corpse…”

The dwarves blinked in confusion.

“It’s fine!”

Dorian shook his head as if telling them just to watch and lifted Desiuros’ tail.

As he inserted the tip of the tail into his belly pocket, the dragon’s enormous corpse, large enough to span the entire desert, was sucked inside in an instant.

“Wha…?”

“H-How is that possible?”

“What kind of subspace pocket is that…?”

“A-a monster! He’s a monster!”

Not just the humans, even the dwarves widened their eyes in disbelief. Their shock was even greater than when the Light Wind swordsmen defeated Desiuros.

What are you doing! Aren’t we going to eat that now?

Wrath waved his hand, urging Raon to roast Desiuros immediately.

‘The people we just rescued are exhausted. We need to let them rest first.’

Raon gently shook his hand at Wrath to calm him down.

Then go eat something else! The King of Essence hasn’t had a single bite all day!

‘Seriously…’

Come on, let’s eat! Bring me anything!

It was when Wrath was throwing a tantrum like a child.

[You have successfully hunted an Ancient Dragon.]

[All stats have increased by 10 points.]

[New Trait…]

[New Title…]

Raon glanced at the message and gave Wrath a nudge with his chin.

'There it is. Something for you to eat.'

He pointed at the glowing blue message, saying that a generous amount had appeared.

What the hell?! Why is this popping up?! He wasn’t even the one who killed it!

Wrath screamed, furious that Raon was the one receiving the reward when, as far as he was concerned, the Light Wind swordsmen had been the ones to defeat Desiuros.

‘That’s true. It was the Light Wind swordsm… Oh! Wait, was it because I landed the final blow?’

Raon snapped his fingers. Now that he thought about it, he had been the one to deliver the killing strike.

F-final blow?! What kind of broken system counts that?! The King of Essence never approved that rule!

Wrath raged again, shouting that the system was acting on its own without his permission.

‘Hmm…’

Raon ignored Wrath’s tantrum and narrowed his eyes, checking the very last part of the message.

‘A new title…’

Dragon Killer?

 

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